How To Save a Life
by Just Keep Chasing Pavements
Summary: Meet Kim Crawford - a 16 year old girl from Tennessee that gets sent to stay with her aunt Charlotte in Seaford, California for her junior year by her mom because of her 'bad behavior'. While she's there, she meets a guy named Jack and many others, and they help her learn from her mistakes and show her the true meaning of friendship.
1. The Beginning

"Where have you been?" Ah great. The question I've been trying to avoid for I don't know how long. I softly closed the door behind me and kicked off my wet combat boots so they wouldn't track mud in the house. All I wanted to do was go upstairs in my room, change the wet clothes that were now sticking to my body, and hit the hay.

"Nowhere mom, I was just at the store..." I muttered back, heading towards the staircase. Before I knew it, my mom was in front of me, blocking the stairs.

"What did I do now?" I asked. I didn't mean to make my voice sound like I had an attitude, but I just really wanted to call it a day already.

"What's this?" My mom asked, pulling out a negative pregnancy test. My eyes practically popped out of my head when she pulled it out.

"You went through my trashcan?! How dare you!" I tried to get it out of her reach, but she only yanked it farther back.

"Kimberly Anne, you are my 16 year old daughter. As long you're under my roof, I have the right to know what goes on in this house!" Yeah, she's right. But she could've just simply came to me with more respect so we could talk about it maturely. You see, my mom and I don't exactly get along. One minute we could be having a normal conversation, but a few minutes later we would be screaming and arguing at each other at the top of our lungs until a door ends up being slammed. It wasn't always be like this, though. We were actually _happy_. But when I was 13, my dad went away on a business trip in Miami, and never came back. I snooped around and found out that my dad had been talking to this younger women over the phone for about a week before he went away to Florida... but then he called my mom over the phone to tell us that he found another women that he wanted to be with. It was hard watching my mom file out the divorce papers. She just looked so... _sad_. So after that, everything went downhill. My mom would lock herself in her room or the bathroom and I'd just go out without her even noticing. I may or not regret leaving her at a time when she needed me the most, but she never paid any attention to me. So ever since then, that's how things sorta went now.

"Mom, calm down, at least I'm not pregnant!" I laughed halfway through my sentence because she was honestly overreacting. She should be happy that she's not raising a 16 year old girl who's about to have a baby!

"Kim, I'm sick of your goddamn attitude. You go around doing this and that, but what if you end up fooling around and really getting yourself knocked up!" Really starting to push my buttons, woman...

"Why do you even care? It's my life, I can do what I want to do!" I shouted back, stepping closer so I was up in her face.

"Well then why don't you start taking care of it? This is coming from a 16 year old girl who has been kicked out of public school and just got kicked out of an alternative school! What else am I supposed to do with you?"

"But mom, I-"

"You know what, I'm calling Charlotte. We are driving up to Seaford, California tomorrow, and like it or not, you're gonna be spending your junior year there!" She shouted back, picking up the phone.

Oh God. Aunt Charlotte, aka my mom's sister, is a fancy-pants Southern Belle who somehow made her way into a California mansion. I mean, I'm not complaining (the woman has money), it's just that I'd miss all my friends (or 'hood rats' as my mother likes to call them) here in Tennessee. We all went through crazy shit together, and we've gotten each other _in_ some crazy shit.

"What?! But what about my friends!" I asked, following her around the house.

"Oh, you mean the same friends that almost got you expelled from school for smoking in the restroom? I'm sure they'll be _fine_!" I swear she brings that up in every fight. A few weeks before school ended, a few friends and I thought it would be fun to smoke a little bit of marijuina in the schools restroom. Ashton (who is a girl by the way) said that she could sneak some of her dad's weed and bring it to school. None of us thought she was serious, but she brought it to school the next day. Eric, one of my guy friends, suggested that we should smoke it in the school restroom. So they put up signs showing that the the restrooms were "Out of Order" and skipped an entire period. Oh, and before you start wondering, I wasn't_ pressured_ into doing anything. It's called being a dare devil and living out your teenage years.

As she dialed her number, I felt angry tears well up in my eyes. I never thought she would go to the extremes by calling my aunt to be honest. In situations like these, I'd simply go up to my room and lock the door while my mom called after me. But no, this time, it was different. She was actually serious.

"I... I hate you! I hope I never have to see you again," I knew that that was horrible thing to say at the moment, but it felt like I had to end the conversation before things got bad.

"Kim-" I didn't get to hear what she had to say. I didn't want to. So I bolted up the stairs, flung the door to my room open, and slammed it behind me as I walked in. I instantly went for any object that was breakable. A chair. You see, my temper usually causes me to completely flip out and rage. I'd throw things around, punch holes in the wall, kick the door until it had a crack in it, and I had even slapped my mom when she tried to snap me out of it once. I'm pretty sure that she learned her lesson that day.

When I was through with my mini tantrum, my room looked like a tornado had ran through it. (Well, it always does, but this time it was worse.) I hadn't even realized I was furiously crying until I felt hot tears on my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away by pulling up the sleeve of my damp long-sleeved shirt as I bent down to look underneath my bed. I stuck my hand out to search for the pointy end of a certain box. When I finally got it in my reach, I pulled it out and placed it on top of my bed. I sat crisscross on the bed with the shoebox in front of me.

Now this may sound sort of weird, but I seek interest in things that may be unusual to other people. For instance, sharp objects and antique weapons. Something about the shininess in the blade and the sharpness at the tip of it excites me. Another thing; fire. That one's my favorite. The way the orange-sometimes blue-flame dances and swirls around gets me so fascinated and intrigued in it. Sometimes, I'd take it a step farther by slicing my thighs and wrists.

I slowly open the box and saw my prize possessions. My pocket knifes, matches, lighters, and miniature candles were perfectly aligned in a row. Under the objects was a pile of gauges for any incidents.

My cold hands were slightly shaking as I picked up a match and a candle. I took one match out of the little box and quickly swiped it against the scratchy part on the side. I watched the flame for a few seconds, almost forgetting what I was about to do. I put the lit fire flame on the stick of the sweet scented candle. I watched the candle for a few minutes, but my thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on my door.

"Kim?" I don't know why, but I felt like crying right then and there after I heard my mom's voice. So I did. I brought my knees up to my chest and hid my face in them and cried. I heard knocking again.

"Yes?" I replied, sniffing a bit. _Maybe if I started talking back to her she'd go away..._

"Start packing, we're leaving first thing in the morning." That made me cry even harder. I managed to choke out an 'Okay' to her, but as soon as I heard her footsteps walk away, I started to violently shake with sobs coming out. About four minutes had pasted before I finally got all of the crying out of my system.

I probably looked insane right now. You know, the damp hair and clothes, the one candle illuminating my entire bedroom, and the orange flame dancing in my glossy dark brown eyes. But I really didn't care. I felt relaxed. If I had music in the background and no wet eyes, hair, or clothes, I would instantly feel better. Yeah, I know. Weird right? But it's just something I've done since I was fourteen.

After pondering for what seemed like an hour, I started to get sleepy and exhausted. I looked over at the digital clock on my nightstand and it read 9:37 p.m. I decided to put the candle that sat on my bed out (because I have actually burned myself and literally lit my bedspread on fire before) and get ready for bed. It wasn't like I had a bedtime or anything, it was just that I had a long day and all I wanted to do was sleep and prepare for the long day ahead of me in the morning.

I took a twenty minute shower, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and threw on a pair of white ankle socks with some baggy camouflage print pants and a plain oversized black shirt. When I walked out of my bathroom and went into my room, I froze.

My room looked horrible.

I ran my fingers through my stringy wet blonde hair and sighed. Since I could tell that my mom was pissed from earlier, I chose to clean my room and start packing. I started by picking up anything that was on my floor and bed, then I walked over to my closet to pull out my old faded pink and light purple suitcase. (Yes, I said pink and purple. Besides, the only reason I use it is because my aunt Charlotte bought it for me when I was around... 8.)

I opened the light suitcase and the first thing that caught my attention was a picture. It was of my mom, dad, and me one the day we first went to California. I was around 11 when most of it happened. When aunt Charlotte first moved there, we decided to check the city out, so it was sorta like a vacation to us.

To be honest, I missed my family being complete. Ever since my dad left and I started making my own decisions, my mom and me started to become more distant with other family members on his and her side of the family.

But hey, that's what tomorrow's for. It's for me to start over and create a new reputation in a new environment... so maybe this is a good thing for me.

_Tomorrow is going to be the start of a looong journey..._

* * *

**So... What did ya think? This idea has been stuck in my head since July, so I decided to write it out. PLUS, I already got like 3 chapters of it written out. xD I really hope y'all enjoy this fanfic because I got a feeling that this is gonna be one of my best ones. Remember - Read, Fave, & Review! :D**


	2. On the Road

"Kim, wake up! Today's the big day!" My mom shouted, waking me up from my deep slumber. I groaned and stuffed a pillow over my face, screaming into it.

_Maybe if I kept it there long enough I could suffocate myself..._ Wait, no. Don't think like that.

I slowly got up, opened my door, and yelled "Okay, I'm up!" as loud as I can. It wasn't that loud though, considering the fact that I had just woken up. I shut my door and walked over to my closet. Since I wasn't really one of those organized people who pick out their outfit the night before **(This applies to me in real life tbh)**, I randomly pulled out an outfit that I assumed would look good together.

I had checked the weather in Cali for today the night before and found out that it was going to be around 89 degrees there, so I picked out a pair of sandals that were brown on the insides and white on the thin straps along with a blue and white baseball/Troy Bolton shirt that had sleeves that stopped at my elbow, and some light-wash jean shorts. **(If you have a hard time imagining the outfit, just think about what Acacia Clark usually wears.)** I sat the clothes down on my bed and did my daily routine.

When I was finished with everything, I double checked my bags and suitcases.

Shirts, Shorts, Tank-tops, Jeans, Underwear, Sandals, Flats, Accessories - _check_.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash, ect. - _check_.

Phone, phone charger, iPod, iPod charger, laptop, laptop charger - _check_.

And lastly, my personal memories - _check_.

I sighed as I took one last glance at my room before exiting it.

"Well, goodbye for now..."

"Who were you talking to?" My mom asked, coming around the corner.

"Oh, no one." I replied, waving it off. She just shrugged her shoulders and headed downstairs. I followed behind her and waited until she was farther ahead of me so I could swipe a few snacks like sunflower seeds, chocolate, and more into one of my half empty floral print backpacks without her knowing.

We finally made it out of the garage and hopped into my mom's Lexus, starting out drive as soon as possible. Since it was only 3 in the morning (which was super-duper early in my opinion), I put on my headphones, connected it to my iPod, and put one of my favorite playlists while my mom chatted away to one of her friends on her cellphone. After 26 minutes of driving, I drifted off to sleep.

**(I DON'T FEEL LIKE EXPLAINING ALL OF THE IRRELEVANT STUFF LIKE "We stopped by the gas station" SO LINE BREAK)**

When I woke up, we were finally in Seaford, California. I checked the time on my iPod and it read 3:03 P.M. I looked up and saw that we were parked in the driveway of a huge house.

"Well, this is it."

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter! I didn't know where I wanted this to fit in, so I just added this in as a random, yet important, chapter lol. Oh, and for all you visual learners out there, isn't Kim's outfit really cute?!**


	3. Know You Better

I got out of the car and stretched her arms and legs, letting out a yawn in the process. I stood beside my mom's car door, waiting for her to open it and come out. To be honest, I expected her to be all drowsy and sleepy, but she looked just fine. I bent down lower to look in the passengers seat and saw about 4 energy drinks. _Well that explains that..._

I looked around at my surroundings and noticed that the house looked a lot different from the last time I was there. The lawn was perfectly mowed down to it's appropriate height, the paint on the garage had no chips in it, there were so spiderwebs or cobwebs anywhere, and every window looked shiny and clean from my view. It looked like one of those mansions that stand out in the suburbs you'd see in some type of movie.

"They're not out yet. Wanna go take a look around? I know that you might not remember it that well," Mom asked, wiping any wrinkles out of her clothes as she stood up. I just nodded her head yes.

By now, she was headed towards the gate that led to the backyard and I trailed along. It was even nicer back there. There was a pool that went up to about 12 ft., a backyard patio, beach chairs, and a mini bar with a grill.

"It looks different, doesn't it?" Mom asked, shading her eyes from the sun with her hand. I nodded my head again. I didn't know why I wasn't acting verbal, I just feel like hearing any small talk.

"Well, I hope you have fun while you're here." She replied while sighing, walking back up to the front when she heard a car honk.

I watched as aunt Charlotte Crawford **(Think of the grandma that found out Stan could talk from DWAB, but just picture her a bit younger. Or you can use Kelly Ripa as an example. You know what, Idc. AS LONG AS YOU GUYS GET THE PICTURE!)** and a boy about the same age as me wearing an open flannel black and red button down shirt with a white tank top on under it come out of a red convertible with the roof down.

I chewed on my bottom lip as I examined the guy. As he got closer into my view, I noticed that he was pretty tall, he had long-ish brown hair, and that he was buff and built as hell... _No, bad Kim. Snap out of it._

I heard a clap in front of my face and instantly snapped out of my little daze. My cheeks immediately flushed.

"Kim!" My mom had been calling my name various times, but I didn't hear her at all until she clapped. I snapped my head her way.

"Nothing, just getting your attention, that's all." She replied, waving me off. My aunt and my mom were going over basic information like my birthday, my allergies, and the reason why I was there. I knew that the boy was listening in on their conversation, but I'd have to fill him in on the truth later.

"Oh, and remember; _she has a thing for fire, smoke, sharp objects, and so on,_ so keep them away from her..." My mom whispered the last part into my aunt's ear but I still heard it. I cleared my throat and shifted uncomfortably, hoping that they'd notice.

"Oh! Kimberly," I winced at my full name. "do you have any bags you need help with?" I looked back at my mom's van and had a little debate. _It's just what, 5 bags? I can handle it! But then again, I am kinda tired... Will they think I'm weak?_

When I didn't answer back right away, my aunt answered for me.

"Nevermind, I can see that you're tired." She turned to the teenager beside her. "Jack, will you get her luggage out of the trunk please?" She ordered him. He nodded and headed over to back of the car. I noticed how his muscles flexed whenever he pulled my stuff out. I don't know who this guy is, but he is honestly a-t-t-r-a-c-t-i-v-e, or "hella fine" as they said back in Tennessee. **(Yes, we really do speak like that down** **here in Memphis xD) **When he finished taking it all out, he brought it up to me and I muttered a small 'thank you'.

"Jack, this is Kimberly. Kimberly, meet Jack. He's been helping me out around here lately." My aunt explained. And no wonder why think place looks so good.

"Nice to meet you, Jack,"

"You too."

"Now that that's out the way, I should get going before it gets dark..." I almost forgot that my mom was still here. She walked over to me and gave me a tight hug, which I gave back in return.

"Remember; stay out of trouble!" My mom told me, gripping my shoulders and pointing a finger at me sternly.

"No promises!" I said sarcastically with a grin on my face. She pursed her lips and looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "I'm kidding." We hugged one last time and she went separate ways.

"Jack, do you mind showing Kimberly around the neighborhood and the area? She hasn't been here in a while," _Jesus freakin' Christ, woman. My name is Kim._

"No, not at all." He replied, shooting me a slight grin.

"Great! I want you two back before it gets dark, okay?" We both nodded our heads in understandment. We both watched her go into the backyard and waited until she was completely out of our sight.

"Okay, let's just get this straight. My name is Kim. Not Kimberly, just Kim Crawford." I told him. I wanted to set the record straight because I absolutely can't stand it when people call me by my full name or nicknames like 'Kimmy' or 'Kimster'. 1.) Because my dad is the only one that could call me that, and 2.) Because they both sound so childish that and they made me cringe most of the time.

"Yeah... I could tell that you didn't like that considering the way you flinched every time your aunt said it." So he's an observant type of guy. That's interesting.

"So, how long have you been working for my aunt Charlotte, Jack?" I asked him randomly. It was starting to get really silent, and I do not do well in awkward silences. I tend to say a lot of stupid things at times like those.

"For about 5 months now." He replied, stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

"Not tryna be rude or anything, but you do know that the only reason she has you around is because she's too scared to lift anything that would cause her to break a nail, right?" I asked him truthfully. My aunt Charlotte Luanne Crawford is, as country people would say, 'booshie'. She's the type of woman to file her nails while she's waiting in a checkout line at Walmart. The type of lady who would eat chicken with a fork instead of her fingers. But hey - that's my aunt Char for ya!

"Yeah, but she gives _great_ tips." Jack pulled out a wad of ten, twenty, five, and one dollar bills slowly with a devious grin on his face. "Nice!" I said while smiling at him. We both laughed together for a bit. When our laughter died down, things started to get uncomfortable again, so Jack decided to spark up a conversation.

"Now it's my turn to ask a few questions. What are some of your hobbies, Kim? You know, other than what your mom said earlier..." I sort of tensed at the question, but I didn't let it bother me.

"Lets see... Uh, I love skateboarding, dancing, drawing, writing, listening to music, and being by myself most of the time. I guess you could say that I'm a tomboyish type of girl." There were many things that I liked doing, but if I could narrow it down to six things, those would be it.

"Well, you're in luck. There's a bunch of stuff like that down here. There's a dance, music, and art studio downtown **(My downtown is Beale Street, but idk about California/Seaford's soo...)**, and there's a skatepark and a library near our school." He explained. I nodded my head in approval.

"What about yours?" I asked him in return.

"Basically almost everything you said. Skateboarding, drawing and painting, sports, and listening to all types of music." He described. We did have a lot of common interests if you didn't include half of the things I do whenever I'm upset or stressed.

"That's pretty cool. It's nice knowing that someone else likes the same things as me." I looked over at him with a small smile and he did the same. After that, we both fell silent again, but this time, it was a comfortable one. It was just us two walking along the streets of Withering Heights in the cool breezy California sunset. Jack checked his phone and stopped in his tracks.

"Since it's getting pretty late out, you wanna go to one last place?" He asked me, continuing to walk. "Sure,"

Jack led me out of the neighborhood we were currently in and to a building that looked like a school building. Jack rested his arm on my shoulder and pointed to the building.

"That, my friend, is where you'll be spending your junior year in high school. Seaford High School..." I took in the building. It had the schools name imprinted into the side of the brick building and it had a lot of windows. It was much different from the one back home. Jack must've saw me blankly staring at it because he chuckled lightly and told me not to worry.

"It's just made up of your usual high school cliques. The populars, the jocks, the 'nerds', the weirdos, and your typical students that don't really fit into a category." He explained, making it sound as if it was nothing. I scoffed and looked at him with a skeptical eyebrow raised.

"Oh yeah? Then where do you fit in?" I asked him with my eyebrow still up. He rolled his eyes at my actions and brushed it off.

"My friends and me used to fit in with almost every clique, but we somehow became friends. I'm sure you'll love them," He said. Just by the way he described them, they sound like pretty nice people.

We both started walking back walking again, but when I looked up, we were already there. Jack walked me up to the front door and we exchanged numbers. I had asked him where did he live, and he pointed directly across the street to a house that was almost identical to my aunt's.

"Oh, well see ya later neighbor. It was nice meeting you." I told him, about to open the door.

"Nice meeting you too, Kim. See you tomorrow!" And with that, we both departed into separate ways.

* * *

**I WAS SO EXCITED TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER, THAT'S WHY I GOT IT OUT SO FAST. :D Okay, sorry for all the caps. Anyways, thank you guys so much for your support! Y'all are the ones that inspire me to continue writing and updating. :')**


	4. Bonding and Settling

When I got inside the house, I called out for my aunt. She waddled out of a bathroom on her heels while wringing her hands around. I'm assuming that she just got through painting them.

"You needed me?" She asked, putting her hands, well, wrists, on her hips.

"Uh, I was just wondering which room would I be staying in," I asked, gesturing towards my suitcases and bags. My aunt paused for a moment and thought about it as if she didn't have it planned out. It looked like she was thinking about it in her head.

"Follow me," She shuffled up the stairs slowly and lightly gripped the stair railing as she led me upstair with me behind her. When we finally reached the top, she turned a corner and we walked down a hall before stopping in front of a room. When she opened the door, an average room that was furnished and had a walk in closet was revealed.

"This is one of those rooms that I no idea what to do with, so I just turned it into a guest room. I hope it's comfortable enough for ya." She said, her southern accent peaking out a bit. I had took a seat on the comfty bed and my aunt did the same by sitting down next to me.

"No, it's fine. I actually kinda like it, but it'd be twice as better once I add all of my pictures and stuff." I said, visualizing how I wanted it to be. I felt my aunt Char's eyes in my direction, so I turned my head to look at her.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just that... You've grown so much since the last time I saw you." She said, staring at me deeply through narrowed eyes in concentration. It was like she was trying to see what had changed about me, and what hadn't. I started to get uncomfortable as she continued because I've always hated when people stared at me. It made me feel like they were silently pointing out each and every one of my flaws.

"Well, I was 11 the last time you saw me, aunt Char." I pointed out. She nodded her head understandingly.

"Yeah, but I've missed you so much. How's my niece been doing?" She asked me, crushing me in a tight hug and rocking me side to side. I breathed in her sweet honey suckle scent before she let go, and it almost instantly made me feel like I was at home.

"Not good. I got kicked outta school, my friends back home turned on me, and my mom officially hates me." I said, sighing. It was true. A lot of stuff had happened throughout the summer and previous school year, and I honestly just wanted it all to be over with.

"What?! Don't say that! Even though you may give Sheryl a hard time, that doesn't mean she doesn't love or care about you." My aunt said, propping herself up by using her elbows. "And as for the whole friends thing, don't worry about that. You have Jack now. I'm pretty sure he'll rub off on you soon." Aunt Charlotte said, poking me in my shoulder while smirking. I knew exactly what she was thinking.

"No, no, no. Before you even go there, I _do not_ like him that. I don't even know the boy's last name!" I exclaim, waving my hands around.

"You see, while you're over here jumping to conclusions, I was just gonna say that he's a good person." Aunt Charlotte replied with a surprised expression on her face.

_Oh._

"Oh." I replied out loud.

"Well, I'll just leave you to finish unpacking. We'll be going over the rules and regulations tomorrow morning with Jack, so be prepared!" She explain, pointing a stern finger at me. "Anyways, goodnight darlin'!" Aunt Charlotte said, waving goodbye and closing the door before her. I managed to get out a small 'Goodnight' before she closed my door and duck-walked down the hall.

When she was gone, I sat up and let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding. I started to slowly unpack, taking out clothes and walking across the hall to the bathroom to set out all of my projects. When I was in the bathroom, I paused and looked into the mirror. I looked... stressed and full of anxiety. I had paleish bags underneath my eyes, my nails were practically gone since I chewed most of them down (it's a weird habit I've always done), the skin on my lips was peeling because I bit them whenever I got nervous (again, another habit of mine), and I also noticed that I looked abit skinnier. It was actually quite terrifying. But despite that, tomorrow's a new day. That could possibly be the day where I fix myself up by doing a little check up on my scars and whatnot. Another day where I can start over before it's too late.

* * *

**And scene. xD Tbh, I kinda got lazy towards the end, so I just randomly chose a way to end it by thinking "Hmm... Would they want to read about every single clothing item that Kim put away, or would they wanna hear more about Kim's change?" I decided the second one, therefore the end was born. Lol anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**


	5. Guardian Angel

_Music. Some type of music is playing._

Wait, what?

_The music is starting to get louder, almost as if the sound is getting closer._

Oh hell no. Not while I'm sleeping.

_The volume increases._

What is that, a trumpet?

My eyes instantly snapped opened and my senses were finally aware of my surroundings. My aunt was holding her cell phone up to my ear playing the Reveille bulge call in the highest volume possible. I grabbed the nearest pillow and covered my ears with it, waiting for the toon to end.

"You're lucky I don't own or know how to play a trumpet." Even though I wasn't looking at her directly, I could tell that she was grinning proudly over the fact that she managed to wake me up. I just groaned and threw the pillow at her in response.

"Hey, no need to get violent!" Aunt Charlotte ha, sitting up from her bent position. "Just letting you know that it's 9 a.m., which is the time we get up 'round here." I sat up against the headboard and wiped the sleepyness outout my face. as en though I and flipping wearing a plain white tank top and some pink Hello Kitty shorts with my hair in the messiest ponytail ever, I got up and started to walk down the stairs and into the kitchen.

When I got down there I was greeted by my aunt (_again_), who was sitting at the kitchen table, looking through some type of shopping magazine.

"Uh, you can find you something to eat in that cabinet over there." She said, pointing towards a cabinet without looking up. I walked over to it and randomly pulled out a newly bought jar of Nutella before getting a spoon out of one the drawers.

I joined aunt Char at the table, staring off into space as I slowly ate the Nutella with a spoon while sitting my petite legs in a crisscross position on the chair.

"Kimberly,"

"Yes?"

"close your legs. It's not lady-like to eat or sit at a dinner table like that." Aunt Charlotte had looked up at me for a brief pause before continuing to look through the magazine in front of her. I silently scolded at her as I shifted my body to where my feet were on the floor.

"Better?"

"Much better. Now was that so hard?" She asked teasingly.

"Haha very funny." I replied dryly, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "You know what, it's too early for this. Wake me up when it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon," I was about to dash up the stairs to take a power nap when my aunt all of a sudden grabbed on to my wrist when I was halfway up the staircase.

"Uh, didn't you hear a word I said earlier? The sooner we go ever these rules and regulations, the more time you have to take as many naps as you want. And remember - Jack is coming over in a few, so get ready." She explained before letting go me. I nodded my head understandingly.

I walked into my new room and went straight towards my docked iPod. I brought it into the bathroom with me and I randomly picked a song. I _seriously_ needed some motivation. So after that, I took a quick shower, did my daily facial routine, then brushed my naturally wavy blonde hair and left it down all while singing to Baby One More Time by Britney Spears.

Since I stayed up pretty late last night, I had time to get most of my clothes into the huge closet that was connected to my room. So I sped-walked across the hall with my towel still wrapped around me and looked for something to wear for the day. I decided on some dark-washed jeans that had rips in the knee/thigh area (and that comfortably hugged my hips), a simple dark blue t-shirt, and a pair of old black and white converse that I wasn't wearing at the moment. When I was on my way out of the room, I stopped and looked into the full body mirror that stood before me. I would seriously look like your average college student who stops at Starbucks near campus everyday before class if I threw on a pair of boots, added some type of sweatshirt, and put my hair in a ponytail... And I honestly kinda liked it. I gave one last glance at my reflection before I headed downstairs.

"Morning Kim." My head snapped towards the voice that said that. It was Jack.

"Sup," I nodded my head up in a greeting way before taking a sit next to him on the couch.

"So, you ready to get this meeting over with?" He asked, picking up the remote and flipping through the channels. The only thing on at this type of time was the news and shows like "Goodmorning Seaford".

"Ugh, don't remind me!" I groaned, covering my face with my hand. Almost as if it was on cue, my aunt walked in. She clapped her hands excitedly, happy to see that we both were already talking.

"Great! You two are already here and ready. Now, lets get started, shall we?" Aunt Charlotte led Jack and me into the dining room where a long table with a total of 8 chairs was placed in the center of the room. We all randomly took a seat, but we made sure to keep a close distance with each other.

All of a sudden, she pulled out a pair of glasses that I assumed was her reading glasses, a sheet paper attached to a clipboard, and a pen.

"The following rules and producers you are about to hear were all approved and stated by miss Charlotte Beulah Crawford, aka moi. Please remember that these aren't placed in any type of order. When understood, sign your signature here." Aunt Charlotte handed me the clipboard and the pen. I agreed to sign it without putting up a protest so it could be over with sooner. I then passed it over to Jack.

"Thank you. Now, number one: Since I was told that you did this _thing_ where you would come home around midnight, your mom and I settled with a new curfew, which is 10:30 p.m. And as for you Jack, your responsibility is to make sure that she's at home safely by that time." _One down, three more to go._

"Number two: You must be capable of making A's and B's in school, and you are only allow to get at least two C's. Also, if any mishaps occur in school or other places, please notify me or Jack." _Two down, two to go..._

"Number three: If having or attending a party, the drinking limit must be two or three drinks or less. If you are too intoxicated, contact Jack, me, or a designated driver to take you home." _Almost there...__  
_

"And lastly, remember to have fun! Don't take this whole situation as a punishment." She said, taking off her reading glasses and leaning in the chair she was sitting in. "But don't tell your mom I said that." She warned, pointing a finger at me while narrowing her eyes.

"So before we end this, any questions?" I looked over and saw Jack raising a finger.

"Well, just one."

"Okay then, ask away!"

"So I'm basically going to be like a guardian to her?" He asked questioningly.

"More like... her Guardian Angel." We both looked over at each other with red cheeks. I just awkwardly rubbed my hand up and down my arm. Without us even noticing, Aunt Char slipped out of the room to let us talk.

"Looks like we're gonna be spending a lot of time together." Jack said, turning around in his chair so he could face me.

"Looks like we are, partner."

* * *

**Cheesy ending, I know. xD I hope you guys liked this chapter! It was originally supposed to be 5 rules, but since I'm writing this through my ipod, my slow ass forgot to save what I had wrote before I exited it out... -.- Oh and I was reading the reviews to this story and I saw an interesting idea by swagmasterlol. I'm just gonna say MAYBE, but ya never know! (;**


End file.
